Ululations and endless applause erupted on Wednesday after six Gauteng provincial departments achieved clean audits.
All 10 provincial departments scooped unqualified audit opinions during the 2022/23 financial year.
This as Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi gears up to celebrate a year in office after taking over from David Makhura in October 2022.
Lesufi was also showered with praises from all quarters for improving the management of public finances in the province within a short space of time.
All this was unfolding during the Gauteng Government Audit Awards at the Houghton Hotel in Johannesburg, where Lesufi dished out trophies to MECs and heads of departments for a job well done.
The department of education, with an annual budget of R60-billion and often plagued by challenges, walked away with the most improved department award.
The other fives departments which received clean audits from the auditor-general were economic development, e-government, cooperative governance and traditional affairs, provincial treasury, as well as Lesufi’s own Office of the Premier.
The premier said the outcomes were a clear indication that his government has turned a new leaf on accountability and accelerated service delivery.
“As we present this report, we want to debunk this myth that clean audits do not equate to service delivery,” said Lesufi.
“This debate has occupied the political landscape after some leadership of our movement have gone on the public platform to condemn clean audits.
“We, as this province, must not be counted among those that want to condemn clean audits. Our argument is very clear, in everything that we do, we service our people.
“Everything that we do, we do it within budget. Everything we do, we ensure that there is proper financial accountability.
“The achievement that we are celebrating today will evaporate if we do not commit to sustain and improve it.
“We have to ensure at all times [that] we put up the necessary systems, provide the necessary support to all portfolio committees that are working with us but most importantly adhere with what we have committed ourselves to do – service our people.”
The custodian of the public rands and cents in the province, finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo, said the audit outcomes of the financial year under review were evident of a province led by an uncompromising leader in Lesufi.
The occasion, said Mamabolo, called for celebration after months of hard work across the province’s departments.
Mamabolo said: “We have gathered here to celebrate a very qualitative and decisive advance in how we manage public finances as confirmed by the AGSA [Auditor-General of South Africa] beyond any shadow of doubt that we have improved, and we have enhanced the confidence levels.
“This is a very groundbreaking achieve for the province of Gauteng, citizens, investors and business. Everybody will have confidence in the provincial government.
“Today we want to thank premier Lesufi that in the short space of time we have achieved new principles, and for that you deserve a thunderous round of applause.
“Your leadership, premier, has been the most outstanding and decisive factor in helping us to be where we are.”
The cherry on top in the celebrations was the 11 provincial government agencies that followed suit with their own clean audit outcomes.
These include, among others, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, Gauteng Liquor Board, Gauteng Films Commission, Gauetng Infrastructure Financing Agency, and Gautrain Management Agency.
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